Floor tool

ABSTRACT

A floor tool for an apparatus for cleaning a floor surface includes a source of suction. The floor tool includes a housing having an interior surface that defines a chamber for receiving at least a portion of a cleaning member. The housing includes a chamber inlet for receiving dirty air, and a chamber outlet for communication with the suction source. The housing is formed of at least two housing portions which provide said interior surface and all of said housing portions are permanently connected or permanently joined to each other.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a U.S. National Phase of International PatentApplication No. PCT/GB2015/051803, filed Jun. 19, 2015, which claimspriority to GB 1412051.3, filed Jul. 7, 2014, the entire contents ofboth of which are hereby incorporated by referenced herein.

BACKGROUND

This invention relates to a floor tool for an apparatus for cleaning afloor surface and/or such an apparatus including the floor tool. Inparticular, this invention relates to an apparatus which utilises asource of suction to draw dirt and/or debris from a floor surface beingcleaned for storage in a dirt chamber or bag for emptying by a user.Such apparatus are typically known as “vacuum cleaners”.

The performance of vacuum cleaners is judged on a number of parameterswhich includes how efficient a cleaner is in extracting dirt/debris fora given suction power, i.e. energy efficiency, and how much noise isgenerated during use. In order to maximise these efficiencies it isadvantageous to reduce suction losses in the suction air flow path andto reduce turbulence in the suction air flow path.

Known vacuum cleaners have a floor tool which has a chamber having achamber inlet through which dirt/debris entrained air enters the tooland flows towards the dirt chamber. The chamber inlet has a smallcross-sectional area compared to the chamber. The suction air flow ratethrough the inlet and chamber is the same and so the limited inletcross-sectional area means that the suction air flow has a highervelocity near the inlet in comparison to areas upstream of the inlet.This makes the chamber susceptible to ambient air being drawn into thechamber through any such high velocity areas which are not adequatelysealed thereby causing suction losses and/or turbulence in the chamber.

According to a first aspect of the invention we provide a floor tool foran apparatus for cleaning a floor surface, said apparatus including asource of suction, the floor tool including:

-   -   a housing having an interior surface that defines a chamber for        receiving at least a portion of a cleaning member, the housing        including:        -   a chamber inlet for receiving dirty air; and    -   a chamber outlet for communication with the suction source,        -   wherein the housing is formed of at least two housing            portions which provide said interior surface and all of said            housing portions are permanently connected or permanently            joined to each other.

Further features of the first aspect of the invention are set out in thedependent claims thereto which are appended hereto.

According to a second aspect of the invention we provide a floor toolfor an apparatus for cleaning a floor surface, said apparatus includinga source of suction, the floor tool including:

-   -   a housing including:        -   a chamber inlet for receiving dirty air; and    -   a chamber outlet for communication with the suction source,        -   wherein the housing is a unitary component.

Further features of the second aspect of the invention are set out inthe dependent claims thereto which are appended hereto.

According to a third aspect of the invention we provide a floor tool foran apparatus for cleaning a floor surface, said apparatus including asource of suction, the floor tool including:

-   -   a housing including:        -   a floor facing surface having an inlet for receiving dirty            air; and        -   at least one passage which extends away from the inlet in a            direction transverse to the normal direction of movement of            the apparatus;        -   wherein a portion of the passage has a cross-section which            is substantially trapezoidal in that the portion has            relatively short sides A, B and a relatively long side C;            and        -   wherein side A and/or side B forms an angle of between 110°            to 122° with respect to side C.

Further features of the third aspect of the invention are set out in thedependent claims thereto which are appended hereto.

According to a fourth aspect of the invention we provide a floor toolfor an apparatus for cleaning a floor surface, said apparatus includinga source of suction, wherein a floor facing surface of the floor tooldefines an inlet for receiving dirty air, which surface is positioned ina first plane, and wherein a planar portion of the floor facing surfacewhich is positioned forwardly (in normal use) of the inlet subtends anangle of 5 to 10° with respect to the first plane.

Further features of the fourth aspect of the invention are set out inthe dependent claims thereto which are appended hereto.

According to a fifth aspect of the invention we provide a floor tool foran apparatus for cleaning a floor surface, said apparatus including asource of suction;

-   -   wherein a floor facing surface of the floor tool includes        forward and rearward portions which define respective portions        of the periphery of an inlet for receiving dirty air; and    -   wherein the forward portion and/or rearward portion is        wedge-shaped and tapers in thickness in a direction towards the        inlet.

Further features of the fifth aspect of the invention are set out in thedependent claims thereto which are appended hereto.

According to a sixth aspect of the invention we provide a floor tool foran apparatus for cleaning a floor surface, said apparatus including asource of suction, the floor tool including:

-   -   a housing including:    -   a chamber inlet for receiving dirty air;    -   a chamber outlet for communication with the suction source; and    -   a cleaning member including cleaning elements having respective        distal portions which extend through the chamber inlet so as to        engage a floor surface during use;    -   at least one floor engaging support element for supporting the        floor tool and for spacing, at a predetermined distance, the        chamber inlet from the floor surface,    -   wherein the distal portion of each of a plurality of the        cleaning elements extends further away from the chamber inlet        than the pre-determined distance.

Further features of the sixth aspect of the invention are set out in thedependent claims thereto which are appended hereto.

According to a seventh aspect of the invention we provide a surfacecleaning apparatus according to the first aspect of the inventionincluding one or more or all of the features of any one of the second tosixth aspects of the invention, and/or including one or more or all ofthe features set out in the dependent claims relating to any one of thesecond to sixth aspects of the invention.

According to an eighth aspect of the invention we provide a surfacecleaning apparatus according to the second aspect of the inventionincluding one or more or all of the features of any one of the first orthird to sixth aspects of the invention, and/or including one or more orall of the features set out in the dependent claims relating to any oneof the first or third to sixth aspects of the invention.

According to a ninth aspect of the invention we provide a surfacecleaning apparatus according to the third aspect of the inventionincluding one or more or all of the features of any one of the first,second or fifth to sixth aspects of the invention, and/or including oneor more or all of the features set out in the dependent claims relatingto any one of the first, second or fifth to sixth aspects of theinvention.

According to a tenth aspect of the invention we provide a surfacecleaning apparatus according to the fourth aspect of the inventionincluding one or more or all of the features of any one of the first tothird or fifth and sixth aspects of the invention, and/or including oneor more or all of the features set out in the dependent claims relatingto any one of first to third or fifth to sixth aspects of the invention.

According to an eleventh aspect of the invention we provide a surfacecleaning apparatus according to the fifth aspect of the inventionincluding one or more or all of the features of any one of first tofourth or sixth aspects of the invention, and/or including one or moreor all of the features set out in the dependent claims relating to anyone of the first to fourth or sixth aspects of the invention.

According to a twelfth aspect of the invention we provide a surfacecleaning apparatus according to the sixth aspect of the inventionincluding one or more or all of the features of any one of the first tofifth aspects of the invention, and/or including one or more or all ofthe features set out in the dependent claims relating to any one of thefirst to fifth aspects of the invention.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Embodiments of the invention will now be described, by way of exampleonly, with reference to the following figures, of which:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of an apparatus for cleaning a floorsurface in accordance with the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of a floor tool of the apparatus of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3a is a rear perspective view of a floor tool of the apparatus ofFIG. 1,

FIG. 3b is an underside view of a floor tool of the apparatus of FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a first side view of a floor tool of the apparatus of FIG. 1;

FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional side view of a component part of a floortool of the apparatus of FIG. 1;

FIG. 6 is a second side view (opposite to FIG. 4) of a floor tool of theapparatus of FIG. 1;

FIG. 7 is a perspective view of another component part of a floor toolof the apparatus of FIG. 1;

FIG. 8 is a perspective of a floor tool of the apparatus of FIG. 1 withcertain component parts removed and other certain component parts shownin exploded view;

FIG. 9 is a perspective view of a floor tool of the apparatus of FIG. 1with certain component parts removed;

FIG. 10 is a magnified side view of a portion of the floor tool of FIG.2;

FIG. 11 is a magnified side view of another portion of the floor tool ofFIG. 2;

FIG. 12 is a cross-sectional side view of a component part of a floortool of the apparatus of FIG. 1 with a cleaning member removedthereform; and

FIGS. 13 (a)-(c) are magnified side views of component parts for usewith the floor tool of FIG. 2.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

With reference to the figures, these show an embodiment of an apparatus10 embodying various aspects of the invention. The apparatus 10 includesan upright part 12 including a user graspable handle 13 and a floor tool14. The apparatus 10 includes a source of suction (not shown) which isin fluid communication with the floor tool 14 to provide suctionthereto. The floor tool 14 is supported on wheels 15 provided on a rearpart thereof and can be pushed and pulled over a floor surface S toclean the surface as required by the user grasping the handle 13 of theupright part 12. The floor tool 14 includes a housing 16 having aninterior surface 18 which defines a chamber 20 for receiving a cleaningmember 22. The housing 16 further includes a chamber inlet 24 forreceiving dirty air and a chamber outlet 26 that communicates with thesuction source.

The upright part 12 is pivotably connected to the floor tool 14 remotefrom a leading edge of the floor tool 14. The upright part 12 containsoperative components of the apparatus 10 such as the suction source inthe form of a suction motor and fan to provide suction to the floor tool14, and a dirt chamber (not shown) for receiving any dirt entrained inthe suction air flow drawn through the floor tool 14. These operativecomponent parts could be located elsewhere, however, in otherembodiments. The upright part 12 includes a dirt separator in the formof a cyclonic separator for separating dirt entrained in the suction airflow from the floor tool 14. These components are not shown in thefigures but are well known in the art and so will not be discussed inany further detail. Although this embodiment includes a cyclonicseparator, other embodiments of the invention may not have such aseparator, but instead rely on a bag for separation/collection of dirtfrom the air flow.

The floor tool 14 has a main body 17 which provides the pivotalconnection to the upright part 12. The housing 16 is a separate partfrom the main body 17 and is supported by the main body 17. The housing16 is positioned forwardly of the pivotal connection to the upright part12, and forms the leading edge of the floor tool 14. The housing 16provides part of the suction air flow path from the chamber inlet 24,whilst the main body 17 contains no part of the suction air flow path.In other embodiments, the main body 17 may contain part of the suctionair flow path. The housing 16 is generally elongate with a curved uppersurface thereof (see FIG. 5). The housing 16 extends in a directiontransverse to the normal direction of movement of the apparatus 10 withthe chamber outlet 26 being positioned at one of the transversely remoteends thereof, to the side of the main body 17. The outlet 26 extends ina rearward direction towards the upright part 12 and has a connectorformed thereon for connection to a hose of the apparatus 10 so as toprovide fluid communication between the chamber 20 and the source ofsuction.

An aspect of the present invention is that the housing 16 is formed offirst and second housing portions 28, 30 which provide the interiorsurface 18 that defines the chamber 20 and all of the housing portions28, 30 are permanently connected or permanently joined to each other.

The first housing portion 28 includes a floor facing surface 32 and thechamber inlet 24 is formed therein. The second housing portion 30 has adownwardly facing perimeter which is connected to an upwardly facingperimeter of the first housing portion 28. Laterally facing side wallsof the housing portions 28, 30 each have a recess 29, 31 which togetherform an opening 34 at a nearside position of the housing 16 and throughwhich the cleaning member 22 passes into the chamber 20. The opening 34is thus formed in a laterally facing side wall 36 of the housing 16. Thehousing 16 is generally cylindrical in shape with the cleaning member 22being positioned along an elongate axis thereof. The cleaning member 22is a brush bar which is rotatably supported at one end of the interiorpart of the housing 16 and at the other end has a drivable portion 38.When the cleaning member 22 is in position, the drivable portion 38 ofthe cleaning member 22 extends outside of the chamber 20 (see FIG. 9).The floor tool 14 includes a driving device 40, in the form of a motorpositioned in the main body 17, for effecting rotation of the cleaningmember 22. The device 40 is connected to the drivable portion 38 whichis positioned outside of the chamber 20 by a belt in a manner which isknown in the art and so is not described in further detail here. Othertypes of driving connection could be utilised.

The housing 16 further includes a closing member 42 in the form of aplate-like member which is removably connectable to the side wall 36 andco-operates with the cleaning member 22 so as to substantially seal theremainder of the opening 34 in a fluid tight manner. In other words, theclosing member 42 separates the chamber 20 from the drivable portion 38of the cleaning member 22 to prevent ambient air flow into the chamber20 via the opening 34.

The closing member 42 includes two closing member parts 44, 46 whichengage each other at respective ends thereof. The respective endsinclude a recess 45, 47 through which at least a portion of the cleaningmember 22 is received. The floor tool 14 includes a removable covermember 48 which, together with the housing 16, forms a space 50 forreceiving the drivable portion 38 of the cleaning member 22. Positionedbetween the closing member 42 and the cover member 48 is a substantiallydisc shaped support member 52. The support member 52 has a centralaperture through which a spindle of the cleaning member 22 extends andis rotatably supported thereby.

The housing portions 28, 30 each have a respective threaded projection51 a, 51 b which is long enough to extend through a respective aperture53 a, 53 b, 53 a′, 53 b′ of the closing member 42 and the support member52. The cover member 48 has apertures 49 a, 49 b that align with thethreaded projections 51 a, 51 b and through which a user can passthrough screws or the like to screw them within the threaded projections51 a, 51 b so as to fix the cover member 48, support member 52 and theclosing member 42 to the housing 16.

The housing portions 28, 30 are ultrasonically welded to each otherabout their respective perimeters such that the chamber 20 issubstantially sealed in a fluid tight manner at this connection. Each ofthe portions 28, 30 are formed by moulding of Acrylonitrile ButadieneStyrene (ABS). In embodiments, other materials such as polypropylene,polycarbonate and/or die-cast aluminium may be used.

The permanent connection between the housing portions 28, 30 whichdefine the chamber 20 is advantageous. Chamber 20 forms a highlynegatively pressurised part of the suction air flow path and the suctionpressure is maintained by sealing the main connection portions of thehousing 16 susceptible to suction losses due to inflow of ambient airduring operation. In other embodiments, rather than the housing beingmade of two parts, the housing may be formed of a unitary construction,i.e. as a one-piece component. This could be achieved by, for example,3-D printing or other manufacture methods known in the art. Theconnection may take other forms such as a permanent screw-threadedconnection. In certain embodiments the housing may be formed of morethan two parts and/or only a portion of the connection between the partsis permanently made. In other embodiments, the floor tool may not have acleaning member and instead, the housing may only have a chamber with achamber inlet for receiving dirty air and a chamber outlet forcommunication with the suction source, with the housing being formed asa unitary component. Advantageously, there is no separate sole plate forconnection to the flow facing surface 32 of the housing 16. Instead, inthis embodiment, surface 32 includes the chamber inlet 24 as an integralpart thereof. Known floor tools have a housing to which a sole plate isattached to a floor facing surface thereof and which provides the inletfor dirt/debris entrained air. The connection therebetween is thereforesusceptible to ambient air entering therethrough and the presentinvention has no such problem because it has no separate sole plate.

In use, the user will operate the apparatus 10 in a known manner, i.e.the cleaning member 22 rotates to engage with carpet piles of the floorsurface S so as to loosen dirt present therein. The dirt is thenentrained in the suction air flow. The dirt entrained air enters thechamber 20 through the chamber inlet 24 and the dirt is separated andcollected in the dirt chamber, with the clean air being exhausted toatmosphere. Should the cleaning member 22 need to be replaced orrepaired, a user removes the cover member 48 by unscrewing the screwspassing therethrough to provide access to the space 50 in which thedrivable portion 38 of the cleaning member 22 is positioned. The userremoves the support member 52 and pulls the closing member parts 44, 46in an upward and downward direction respectively away from the cleaningmember 22. The cleaning member 22 is then free to move within thechamber 20 and can be pulled in a sideways direction out through theopening 34.

With reference to FIG. 10, a further aspect of the invention will now bedescribed. Laterally facing sidewall 36 and the opposing laterallyfacing sidewall 37 each have a respective passage 54, 55 which extendsaway from the inlet 24 in a direction transverse to the normal directionof movement of the apparatus 10. Each passage 54, 55 is identical and sofor the purpose of this description, only passage 54 will be described.A portion of the passage 54 has a cross-section which is substantiallytrapezoidal in that the portion has sides A, B which are relativelyshort, and a side C which is relatively long. The portion of passage 54is in the form of a recess which is open in a direction towards thefloor surface. The recess is substantially closed by the floor surface Sduring use and thus the fourth side of the trapezoid is the floorsurface S. The portion of passage 54 thus has an open side D oppositeside C, and which is longer than side C, whilst sides A and B arerelatively short in comparison to D. Side A forms an angle α withrespect to side C and side B forms an angle β with respect to side C. Ithas been found that performance of the apparatus 10 is unexpectedlyimproved if α and/or β is between 110° to 122°, and more preferably116°. Similarly, it has been found that performance is improved if Cextends a distance of between 18 and 24 mm, and more preferably, extendsa distance of 21 mm. Improvements in performance have also been found ifD is between 20 and 26 mm, and more preferably, D is 23 mm or about 23mm.

In other embodiments, the portion of passage 54 may not be formed as arecess but rather as a trapezoidal aperture formed in side walls of thehousing and configured to have the shape described above.

With reference to FIG. 11, a further aspect of the invention will now bedescribed. Floor facing surface 32 of the floor tool 14 which definesthe inlet 24 is positioned in a first plane 56 and a planar portion 58of the floor facing surface 32 which is positioned forwardly (in normaluse) of the inlet 24 subtends an angle γ of 5 to 10° with respect to thefirst plane 56. It has been found that performance is unexpectedlyimproved if γ is in this range. More preferably, it has been found thatan angle of 7° is highly advantageous. The floor facing surface 32 alsoincludes a substantially flat portion 60 which extends between theplanar portion 58 and the inlet 24. The flat portion 60 is positioned ina second plane 62 which is substantially parallel with the first plane56.

With reference to FIG. 11, a further aspect of the invention will now bedescribed. The cleaning member 22 is arranged to have cleaning elements68 which each extend radially away from an elongate axis of the cleaningmember 22. The cleaning elements 68 are elongate and made from astandard material such as nylon or the like. The cleaning elements 68are positioned in a helical pattern on the surface of the cleaningmember 22. Each cleaning element 68 may be made of a plurality elementswhich are closely packed together. All that is required is that one ormore cleaning elements extend radially away from the elongate axis ofthe cleaning member and are positioned thereon. In other embodiments thecleaning elements could be arranged in other patterns on the cleaningmember. The cleaning elements 68 have respective distal portions 70which extend through the inlet 24 so as to engage the floor surface Sduring use. The floor tool 14 further includes a pair of floor engagingsupport elements 72, 74 positioned to the rear of the housing 16 andforwardly of the rear wheels 15. Support elements 72, 74 support thefloor tool and are in the form of rollers, and arranged to space, at apre-determined distance X, the chamber inlet 24 from the floor surfaceS. In other embodiments, the support elements 72, 74 may not be rollersand could be wheels, or a projection (rotatable or non-rotatable) whichextends away from the underside of the floor tool 14 to space thechamber inlet 24 a pre-determined distance X away from the floor surfaceS. It will be seen that a portion of the cleaning elements 68 extendsfurther away from the chamber inlet 24 than the distance X. In use, thisarrangement ensures that the cleaning elements 68 extend a furtherdistance into the carpet piles of the floor surface S than the supportelements 72, 74. Thus, the cleaning elements 68 can agitate and loosendirt/debris which may be lodged deep within the carpet piles and nototherwise accessible for cleaning. It has been found to be advantageousfor the cleaning elements 68 to extend at least twice as far away fromthe chamber inlet 24 than the pre-determined distance X and moreadvantageously for the cleaning elements 68 to extend a distance Y ofbetween 0.7 to 1.3 mm away from the chamber inlet 24, and morepreferably a distance of 1 mm. It has been further found to beadvantageous for the support elements 72, 74 to extend a distance X ofbetween 0.3 to 0.7 mm and more advantageously a distance of 0.5 mm.

With reference to FIG. 12, a further aspect of the invention will now bedescribed. The floor facing surface of the floor tool 14 includesforward and rear portions 64, 66 which define respective portions of aperiphery of the inlet 24. In particular, they define sides of the inlet24 which extend in a transverse direction to the normal direction oftravel of the apparatus 10 in use. The forward portion 64 and rearwardportion 66 are substantially wedge-shaped and taper in thickness as theyeach extend towards the inlet 24. It has been found that having suchwedge-shaped portions is advantageous with respect to performance incomparison to portions which are curved or include a curved portion.

With reference to FIG. 13(a)-(c), various configurations of the forwardand rear portions 64, 66 may be utilised. FIG. 13(a) shows an embodimentfor which the forward portion 64 has an upwardly facing surface 80 and adownwardly facing surface 82. The upwardly facing surface 80 taperstowards the floor surface S as it extends in a direction towards thedownwardly facing surface 82.

FIG. 13(b) shows an embodiment for which the downwardly facing surface82′ tapers away from the floor surface S as it extends towards theupwardly facing surface 80′.

FIG. 13(c) shows an embodiment for which the upwardly and downwardlyfacing surfaces 80″, 82″ taper towards each other as they extend towardsthe inlet 24.

It will be appreciated that the forward and rearward portions 64, 66need not be identical and may each take any of the configurationsdescribed above and any combination thereof.

It will be appreciated that the features described in relation toembodiments having one or more aspects of the invention are notnecessarily features required in relation to the other of the one ormore aspects of the invention as will be understood by those skilled inthe art. It will also be appreciated that the invention need not belimited to a floor tool that forms part of an upright floor cleaningapparatus. For example, the invention could be embodied on a floor toolwhich connects to a wand of a cylinder cleaner or the like. Theapparatus may also be a wet cleaning apparatus. Furthermore, thecleaning member described with reference to one or more of theembodiments need not be driven by a motor and could be, for example,driven by a wind-turbine.

When used in this specification and claims, the terms “comprises” and“comprising” and variations thereof mean that the specified features,steps or integers are included. The terms are not to be interpreted toexclude the presence of other features, steps or components.

The features disclosed in the foregoing description, or the followingclaims, or the accompanying drawings, expressed in their specific formsor in terms of a means for performing the disclosed function, or amethod or process for attaining the disclosed result, as appropriate,may, separately, or in any combination of such features, be utilised forrealising the invention in diverse forms thereof.

1-48. (canceled)
 49. A floor tool for an apparatus for cleaning a floorsurface, said apparatus including a source of suction, the floor toolincluding: a housing having an interior surface that defines a chamberfor receiving at least a portion of a cleaning member, the housingincluding: a chamber inlet for receiving dirty air; and a chamber outletfor communication with the suction source, wherein the housing is formedof at least two housing portions which provide said interior surface andall of said housing portions are permanently connected or permanentlyjoined to each other.
 50. A floor tool according to claim 49, whereinone of the housing portions includes a floor facing surface and thechamber inlet is formed at least partially, and preferably completely,in said housing portion.
 51. A floor tool according to claim 49, whereinthe housing has an opening through which the cleaning member can passinto the chamber.
 52. A floor tool according to claim 51, wherein theopening is formed in a laterally facing side wall of the housing.
 53. Afloor tool according to claim 51, including a cleaning member positionedat least partially in the chamber.
 54. A floor tool according to claim53, wherein a portion of the cleaning member extends outside of thechamber.
 55. A floor tool according to claim 53, wherein the housingincludes a closing member that co-operates with the cleaning member soas to substantially seal a remainder of the opening in a fluid tightmanner.
 56. A floor tool according to claim 55, wherein the closingmember includes two closing member parts which engage each other.
 57. Afloor tool according to claim 56, wherein one or both closing memberparts include a recess to receive a portion of the cleaning member. 58.A floor tool according to claim 49, including a removable cover memberwhich together with the housing forms a space for receiving a drivableportion of the cleaning member.
 59. A floor tool according to claim 53,including a driving device for effecting rotation of the cleaningmember, which device is arranged to connect to the portion of thecleaning member which is positioned outside of the chamber.
 60. A floortool according to claim 49, wherein all of said housing portions areultrasonically welded to each other or formed as a unitary construction.61. A floor tool according to claim 49, wherein all of said housingportions are formed by moulding.
 62. A floor tool according to claim 49,wherein the housing is formed from acrylonitrile butadiene styrene. 63.A floor tool according to claim 49, wherein the cleaning member is arotatable brush bar.
 64. A floor tool for an apparatus for cleaning afloor surface, said apparatus including a source of suction, the floortool including: a housing including: a chamber inlet for receiving dirtyair; and a chamber outlet for communication with the suction source,wherein the housing is a unitary component.
 65. A floor tool for anapparatus for cleaning a floor surface, said apparatus including asource of suction, the floor tool including: a housing including: achamber inlet for receiving dirty air; a chamber outlet forcommunication with the suction source; and a cleaning member includingcleaning elements having respective distal portions which extend throughthe chamber inlet so as to engage a floor surface during use; at leastone floor engaging support element for supporting the floor tool and forspacing, at a predetermined distance, the chamber inlet from the floorsurface, wherein the distal portion of each of a plurality of thecleaning elements extends further away from the chamber inlet than thepre-determined distance.
 66. A floor tool according to claim 65, whereinthe distal portion of said cleaning elements extends at least twice asfar away from the chamber inlet than the pre-determined distance.
 67. Afloor tool according to claim 65, wherein the distal portion of thecleaning elements extends a distance of between 0.7 to 1.3 mm from thechamber inlet.
 68. A floor tool according to claim 65, wherein the atleast one support element spaces the chamber inlet a distance of between0.3 to 0.7 mm from the floor surface, and more preferably the at leastone support element spaces the chamber inlet 0.5 mm or about 0.5 mm fromthe floor surface.
 69. An apparatus for cleaning a floor surface, theapparatus comprising: a source of suction; and a floor tool for cleaninga floor surface, the floor tool including: a housing having an interiorsurface that defines a chamber for receiving at least a portion of acleaning member, the housing including: a chamber inlet for receivingdirty air; and a chamber outlet for communication with the suctionsource, wherein the housing is formed of at least two housing portionswhich provide said interior surface and all of said housing portions arepermanently connected or permanently joined to each other.